When We Were Orphans. By Kazuo Ishiguro. 336 pp. A novel that conceals great issues of identity and self-knowledge behind the facade of a detective story; its protagonist, a private eye in 1920’s London, uses all his wits in the cause of deceiving himself, missing the call of freedom in the blindness his sense of obligation imposes. ☞ The New York Times review ☞ Google Books page ☞ Amazon.com page.